costumes & other disguises

Mistborn

Kelsier threw on the garment, its strips of cloth twisting and curling, almost like the mists themselves.
"It's colored and constructed to hide you in the mist," Kelsier said. "And it warns city guards and other Mistborn not to bother you." He spun, letting the cloak flare dramatically. "I think it suits me."

I knew before finishing Brandon Sanderson's first Mistborn novel that I wanted to make a mistcloak.
It sounded like a pretty neat piece of clothing and it was worn by awesome characters.

I'll admit I strayed somewhat from the author's
description. I left off the hood, mainly. It seemed like lack of peripheral vision might be a
disadvantage when flying about the rooftops at night. And really, I always got the impression
that for mistborn, hiding was secondary to looking awesome. Kind of like a superhero
costume—their identity may be secret but their existence isn't.

Mistcloaks are traditionally only worn by the nobility, so I figured they should be made with nice
fabrics and a bit of decoration. To cut the strips of fabric, I used a Sonobond machine, which
fuses the edges of synthetic fabrics, preventing fraying. This meant I didn't have to hem
150 strips of fabric.

I have since made several mistcloaks, all similar in style but not identical. I think it's
fun to come up with variations that make each one unique, and suitable for different characters.

Other Mistborn Costumes

I've made a few Mistborn costumes other than just the mistcloaks. The one that has had the
most effort go into it, but still leaves me the least satisfied, is my Steel Inquisitor
costume. It started out as a challenge to myself, to see if I could do it. I managed a decent
job at the special effects makeup (well, aside from the bald cap application), but really,
I'm just not the right person to wear this costume (in case you're curious--I can see, but
only straight ahead).

Recognize Elend's white uniform? We cheated a bit on this--it's Grand Admiral Thrawn's
uniform, with a few modifications. But it works out decently. The "leather" armor I wore
under my mistcloak at Dragon*Con 2011 was originally made for the Inquisitor costume,
but I liked it well enough that I wanted to keep using it. I don't think it's something Vin
would wear, but I could see a different mistborn, perhaps some years before the trilogy takes
place, wearing something like that.